What will we do when the Olympics are over? It is a common question among
those of us who have been swept up by the euphoria of the London 2012 Games.
It is a year since blazing riots across Britain lit up television screens
worldwide, but the coverage from Stratford and elsewhere this past fortnight
will have done much to repair the national image.

Our sporting victories have also proved a good distraction from the economic
realities of a protracted recession. But five years since the beginning of
the credit crunch the news, despite the Bank of England’s forecast that